The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their 2024 Hall of Honor class on Saturday afternoon, and OLB Jason Gildon, who had 77 career sacks with the Steelers, was inducted alongside Casey Hampton, Dick LeBeau and Willie Parker. Gildon came up with the “Blitzburgh” Steelers, being drafted in 1994 and playing alongside Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene. Gildon gave a lot of credit to Lloyd and Greene for his success, telling Bob Pompeani at the Hall of Honor ceremony that the two took him under their wing.
“I can honestly say that I contribute a lot of my success to both of those guys. They were pros pros, in my eyes. They weren’t afraid to take a young guy under their wing because to play linebacker here, it means something. There’s a lot of expectations, and they held you accountable to that. And I think learning that from a young age really helped me to be successful because we weren’t necessarily afraid of Coach Cowher, despite his demeanor. We were more afraid, the young guys, of going out there and messing up. Because we knew what that meant in the eyes of the vets.”
Greene and Lloyd were both playing at an All-Pro level when Gildon was drafted, as both were first-team All-Pro honorees that season. Learning under two of the best players at their position helped Gildon become one of the best players at his position, and when Greene left in free agency after the 1995 season, Gildon took on a bigger role. In his first season as a primary starter in 1996, Gildon registered seven sacks. In 2001, he was a first-team All-Pro honoree as Lloyd and Greene were early in his career.
The Steelers have long been a team where the veterans hold a lot of power and take on a leadership role. It makes sense that Gildon and the other young players weren’t as concerned about messing up for fear of the coaching staff. The veterans know how things are supposed to work in Pittsburgh, and if someone isn’t upholding the standard or pulling their weight in practice, it’s the veterans who will make sure it’s known that it’s not okay.
For Gildon, though, he had two veteran mentors in Greene and Lloyd who were among the best he could’ve had. They were the best at their position, and they could teach Gildon the ropes of what it meant to play linebacker in Pittsburgh. That certainly helped him become one of the best linebackers in the game and one of the best linebackers in team history. He’ll deservedly take his place in the Hall of Honor.
